September-October 2017 Theater Preview
Make It Better, September-October 2017 — Read my recommendations for Chicago-area plays.
View ArticleWhy Newsies’ Regional Premiere Is Unlike Any Other Staging of the...
Playbill, October 2017 — People love to root for the underdog. And who’s more of an underdog than a ragtag kid shouting “Extra!, Extra!” as he sells newspapers on the crowded streets of a big, dirty...
View ArticleWhy Escape to Margaritaville Won’t Be Just Another Juke-Box Musical
Playbill, November 2017 — The first time Jimmy Buffett saw a rehearsal of Escape to Margaritaville, the new musical based on his songs, it was pretty obvious that he was having a good time. “He was...
View ArticleNovember-December 2017 Theater Preview
Make It Better, November-December 2017 — Read my recommendations for Chicago-area plays.
View ArticleJanuary-February 2018 Theater Preview
Make It Better, January-February 2018 — Read my recommendations for Chicago-area plays.
View ArticleWhy This Chicago Theatre Put a Modern Spin on The Emperor’s New Clothes—With...
Playbill, March 4, 2018 — Imagine you’re a child watching a live theatrical performance for the first time. You’ve seen plenty of movies and television shows, but this is something new and exciting —...
View ArticleLorin Latarro’s A Taste of Things to Come Captures the Inception of Feminism
Playbill, March 2018 — Cooking contests are an American pastime. After a long history of local bake-offs at county fairs and churches around the country, competitions hit the big time in 1949, when...
View ArticleMay-June 2018 Theater Preview
Make It Better, May-June 2018 — Read my recommendations for Chicago-area plays. Photo by David Jensen
View ArticleTony-Winning Once Makes Music in Illinois
Playbill, May 2018 — Done on a tiny budget of $150,000, the independent Irish film Once barely made it into theaters. And it easily could have disappeared without a trace, but audiences were captivated...
View ArticleJuly-August 2018 Theater Preview
Make It Better, July-August 2018 — Read my recommendations for Chicago-area plays. Photo by Liz Lauren
View ArticleIke Holter and ‘The Wolf at the End of the Block’
Playbill, January 2017 — For a playwright who has received the highest praise from critics, Ike Holter is disarmingly modest. “I’m pretty dumb,” the 30-year-old Chicagoan says, struggling to explain...
View ArticleJanuary-February 2017 Theater Preview
Make It Better, January-February 2017 — Read my preview of Chicago-area plays. Photo: Goodman Theatre
View ArticleMarch-April 2017 Theater Preview
Make It Better, March-April 2017 — Read my recommendations for Chicago-area plays.
View ArticleLookingglass Theatre’s Reimagined ‘Moby Dick’: Interview with David Catlin
Make It Better, May-June 2017 — When David Catlin was creating Lookingglass Theatre’s stage version of “Moby Dick,” a sentence in the first chapter of Herman Melville’s novel jumped out at him. The...
View ArticleMay-June 2017 Theater Preview
Make It Better, May-June 2017 — Read my recommendations for Chicago-area plays. Photo of Mike Nussbaum: Michael Brosilow
View ArticleGood Fences Don’t Necessarily Make Good Neighbors in Native Gardens
Playbill, June 2017 — A fence divides two backyards in Native Gardens, a new play at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theater. A white couple has lived for a long time on one side of the fence. On the other...
View ArticleHow a Government Agency Ended Up Responsible for Swing Mikado, Among Others
Playbill, July 2017 — Arts agencies consume a microscopic fraction of the $4 trillion U.S. budget. And yet government funding for the arts is controversial; calls to eliminate it never fully subside....
View ArticleWhat to Expect from Paramount Theatre’s Million Dollar Quartet
Playbill, September 2017 — On December 4, 1956, Sam Phillips—the record producer famed as the father of rock ’n’ roll—telephoned the Memphis Press-Scimitar with a hot tip. Acting quickly, the newspaper...
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